Congratulations to all writers that have made The Masters Review 2014 Shortlist which honors the top 2% of all stories reviewed. "At this time our guest judge, Lev Grossman, is reviewing stories and will select the top ten to be published in our anthology," write the editors of The Masters Review. The final announcement will be made no later than May 15.

The latest issue of Banipal features excerpts from the novels of the 2014 shortlist for The International Prize for Arabic Fiction:

Inaam Kachachi – TashariAbdelrahim Lahbibi – The Journeys of ’Abdi, known as Son of Al-HamriyahKhaled Khalifa – No Knives in this City’s KitchensYoussef Fadel – A Rare Blue Bird that Flies with MeAhmed Saadawi – Frankenstein in BaghdadAhmed Mourad – The Blue Elephant

Glimmer Train has just chosen the winning stories for their February Short Story Award for New Writers. This competition is held quarterly and is open to all writers whose fiction has not appeared in a print publication with a circulation greater than 5000. The next Short Story Award competition will take place in May. Glimmer Train’s monthly submission calendar may be viewed here.

1st place goes to Melanie Lefkowitz of Ithaca, NY. [Photo credit: Chelsea Fausel.] She wins $1500 for “The Mango” and her story will be published in Issue 94 of Glimmer Train Stories. This is Melanie’s first fiction publication.

2nd place goes to Kathleen Boyle of San Francisco, CA. She wins $500 for “Burial Rites of Northern Italians.”

3rd place goes to Olivia Postelli of Ann Arbor, MI. She wins $300 for “In the Glow.”

NCTE is seeking a new editor of Teaching English in the Two-Year College. In May 2016, the term of the present editor, Jeff Sommers, will end. Interested persons should send a letter of application to be received no later than December 15, 2014. Letters should include the applicant’s vision for the journal and be accompanied by the applicant’s vita, one sample of published writing (article or chapter), and two letters specifying financial support from appropriate administrators at the applicant’s institution. Applicants are urged to explore with their administrators the feasibility of assuming the responsibilities of a journal editorship.

Isthmus, edited by Ann Przyzycki, Randy DeVita, and Taira Anderson, is a new biannual print magazine that publishes fiction, nonfiction, and poetry. Hailing from Seattle, Washington, Isthmus offers “good writing that will make you want to pass the issue to a friend.” Przyzycki says, “We value the traditional as well as those pieces that organically can only be told through experimentation with form.”

Przyzycki recalls a time when all three editors were stuck together in traffic on the interstate highway running north to south through Seattle. One editor remarks that the reason for the bottleneck traffic in Seattle is that the city is built on an isthmus. Later, when coming up with a name for the journal, Przyzycki says they looked back on this moment and chose Isthmus to refer not only to the city it was based out of but also to the geographical term and the accompanying metaphor: “a narrow connection between two larger objects, as the printed journal is a connection between the writer and the reader,” she says.

But as with all new journals, we ask why? Why start a literary magazine? And in Przyzycki’s research, she found that most start because the editors don’t feel like there is “a venue for a certain kind of story, that there is some hole to fill”—and she would be right. She is fully aware of the vast amount of venues already out there but says “I don’t think that there can be too many opportunities for good writing to be shared.” Inspired by the independent presses and magazines at AWP this year, she believes that many writers are looking to independent lit mags for “new voices.” She loves the honor of allowing someone else to trust her with their work; “I love working on books and so perhaps naively I feel that my passion for publishing and connecting writers to readers is reason enough.”

As the journal grows, Przyzycki hopes to include translations on a regular basis, increase the online presence, and include more book recommendations and author interviews on the website.

Isthmus editors read year round for poetry, fiction, and nonfiction. You can submit through Submittable only; please find complete guidelines on their website. They also note that you should check in regularly with their blog and Facebook page for announcements of any upcoming special issues or future contests.

This season on the BBC, writers and directors have taken on four big classic works: Jed Mercurio’s adaptation of DH Lawrence’s Lady Chatterley’s Lover, Ben Vanstone’s adaptation of Laurie Lee’s novel Cider With Rosie, Adrian Hodges' adaptation of LP Hartley’s The Go-Between and J B Priestley’s classic play An Inspector Calls. Each have been made into 90-minute adaptations. Read more on the BBC website and from John Plunkett on The Guardian. Though not everyone is pleased with this; check out Mof Gimmers's article on Anorak.

The editors at The Asheville Poetry Review to announced the William Matthews Poetry Prize Recipients for 2014, judged by Billy Collins.

Bruce Sager, from Westminster, MD was awarded first prize for his poem, "The Lot of Stars," and will receive $1000, plus publication in the 20th Anniversary issue of The Asheville Poetry Review (Vol. 21, Issue 24, 2014), which will be released in November, 2014

Second prize is awarded to T. J. Sandella, from Cleveland, OH, for his poem, "Flight." He will receive $250, as well as publication.

Dave Seter, from Petaluma, CA, was the third prize recipient for his poem “What My Uncle Is Trying To Say,” and he will also be published in the next issue. All three authors will be featured at a reading in Malaprop’s Bookstore in Asheville, NC this summer.

The overall style of Santa Monica Review isn't particularly striking, but the image they selected for this Spring 2014 issue is. There's something about the young girl's eyes and the way the black lamb just gently rests in her arms, not trying to get away, that makes it hard to look away. The piece is by Deborah Davidson titled Leaving Home.

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The cover of the latest North Dakota Quarterly is James Bassler's Rib Shield, painted silk wrap, woven, cut, and sewn. "In the 1980s his work underwent a dramatic change after his exposure to the Navajo wedge weaving process and the art of John Cage." You really have to see it up close to appreciate it as you should—I'd love to see it in person!

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The image onPoetry's May 2014 issue takes over the cover. It's titled "Torch" and is done by Kate McQuillen as part of her collection called Body Scans. See more here.

The Open Society Documentary Photography Project is soliciting calls for the 2014 Audience Engagement Grant Program. Since the program’s inception in 2004, they have funded 54 photographers who have gone beyond documenting a human rights or social justice issue to enacting change. Beginning this year, they will offer two tracks of support for individuals at different phases of their Audience Engagement projects.

Track One: Project DevelopmentGrantees will receive funding to attend an Open Society–organized retreat in December of 2014. This event will be designed in collaboration with Creative Capital’s Professional Development Program, whose nationally recognized workshops provide participants with essential practical tools and strategies to help them move their project and career goals forward. Attendees will become part of a larger Audience Engagement Grant cohort, with opportunities to connect both during the conference and after.

Track Two: Project ImplementationGrantees will receive funding to execute (or continue executing) their projects as well as attend December’s retreat.

Eligibility Criteria •Documentary photographers, photo-based artists, and socially engaged practitioners who use their work to move target audiences beyond the act of looking, to directly participate in activities or processes that lead to change around an issue.•Individuals who establish meaningful partnerships with others committed to realizing change and who bring a complementary set of skills and expertise.•Projects that use photography or photo-based art creatively and innovatively to reach a project’s unique audience.•Projects with goals that are ambitious, yet realistic and achievable.